


Kuroko no Aincrad

by SilentSilhouette



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball, Sword Art Online
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sword Art Online, Alternate Universe - Video Game World, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, Virtual Reality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-13 11:41:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5706349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentSilhouette/pseuds/SilentSilhouette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Akashi, as a reward for winning their first tournament of the year, gifts his teammates with exclusive beta invitations for the world's first VRMMORPG Sword Art Online.</p><p>Unfortunately, they forgot to take into account the possibility of getting trapped in a virtual death game with the only way out being the completion of all one hundred floors of a floating fantasy castle.</p><p>Oops.</p><p>Sword Art Online AU. No SAO characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Virtual Douchebag Hanamiya Makoto

**Author's Note:**

> Because there is a severe lack of SAO AUs in KnB and I plan to remedy that.  
> This is really more like a series of interconnected oneshots with a vague, overarching storyline. Don't expect chronological accuracy of any kind.  
> Also, Akashi here is like a mix of Oreshi and Bokushi because reasons.

The Generation of Miracles: a newly dubbed team of second-year basketball prodigies with incredible talents only seen once every ten years. These players were beyond famous in the Japanese middle school basketball circle.

One day, renowned genius inventor Hanamiya Makoto released the beta version of the world’s first ever VRMMORPG (virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game), Sword Art Online. Akashi, using his various connections, managed to secure beta invitations for his team, including their manager, to celebrate their first tournament win of the year. Even basketball idiots like them were curious about the possibilities of virtual reality.

As expected, they dominated Aincrad, the world of Sword Art Online.

Life was good. The team of geniuses continued to kick ass in both basketball and virtual reality. The beta players gave rave reviews over the beta version of Sword Art Online, stoking fires of excitement within the gaming community. They sung praises about the beautiful virtual world, the challenging dungeons, the variety of fantasy monsters and other wonders of Aincrad. Finally, after much anticipation, Sword Art Online was officially released to the public, all ten thousand copies being sold within minutes along with thousands of NerveGears.

In the world of virtual reality, ten thousand players marvelled at the beautiful landscape, the realistic NPCs, the fierce monsters roaming outside the town. They rushed to the stores to spend their beginning money on swords and armours, ready to explore the whole new world and conquer the floating castle of Aincrad.

Or so they thought.                                 

* * *

**Floor 1 – Starting City  
** **9 January 2036**

 “What the hell is going on!” Aomine roared.

Kuroko frowned and tried to placate his best friend. “Calm down, Aomi—um, Aokuma-kun.”

“Maybe it’s an event,” Kise suggested brightly.

“There’s something not right here,” Midorima noted, glancing at the equally confused players around them.”

“Maybe it’s a glitch,” Momoi said, fiddling with her avatar’s long blue hair.

“I need to log out,” Murasakibara said mournfully. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

Akashi didn’t say anything.

Suddenly, the sky turned blood-red. Players looked up and gasped as what looked like blood seeped out of invisible cracks and formed a giant hooded figure floating above them all.

“Attention all players,” the figure intoned. “I am Hanamiya Makoto and, as of this moment, I am in total control of your world.” His words was met with a buzz of confused murmurs and irritated questions.

The figure continued. “I’m sure by now you’ve noticed the absence of a log out button on your menus. Let me assure you: this is not a bug. I repeat, this is not a bug. This is how Sword Art Online is designed to be.”

“What…?” Momoi clung to Kuroko, her arms wrapping around his arm. “Tetsu-kun… I don’t like the sound of this.”

“None of you can log out of Sword Art Online, and no one from the real world will be able to shut down or remove the NerveGears from your heads. If anyone attempts to do so, the NerveGear will send a lethal microwave signal into your skull, thus destroying your brain and ending your life. If you don’t believe me…” Hanamiya waved his hand, summoning an array of browser windows showing frantic news reporters and emergency broadcasts. “… here’s proof. As you can see, over two hundred players have already died either by dying in the game or through their family’s well-meaning attempts to disconnect their NerveGears.”

“Oh my god,” Momoi whimpered, clutching her crush tighter.

“Two hundred…” Midorima said, shocked.

Hanamiya Makoto continued his explanation, stating how emergency personnel were scrambling to transport the players’ bodies into hospitals during the grace period he provided, how no one in the real world could help them now, and how the only way to escape Sword Art Online was to complete all one hundred floors of Aincrad and defeat the final boss. “Oh, and one more thing,” he said. Everyone could hear the smirk in his voice. “Check your inventories. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Exchanging a look with Aomine, Kuroko opened his inventory window and noticed an item he hadn’t noticed before at the very top: «Mirror». He equipped it on his right hand, the item appearing in a flash of bright light. Looking into the surface, his avatar’s reflection stared back at him: black hair, black eyes, slightly taller and bulkier build.

Then the mirror glowed bright blue.

“Wha—?” Kuroko squinted against the glare, not noticing everyone else glowing brightly, until the light died down and he was left staring at his reflection—his _real_ reflection—at the mirror. Light blue hair, light blue eyes, shorter height, slimmer body—

“IT’S ME!” Kise shrieked, breaking through the astounded silence that blanketed the arena.

“OHMYGOSH!”

“Holy shit…”

“Wait… You’re not a girl!”

“And you’re not seventeen!”

“Hey, is that Kise Ryouta?”

“What is the meaning of this?” Akashi hissed, staring at his legitimate red-haired reflection with furious red eyes.

“Your avatars are not the only things that changed,” Hanamiya said casually. “Check your usernames.”

Kuroko’s eyes flicked to the top-left corner displaying his username—or, rather, what was supposed to be his username. Instead of displaying «Kuro», there, in white Lucida Sans Unicode font, it displayed «Kuroko Tetsuya».

“That’s not my username,” Murasakibara said blankly.

“You cannot hide behind false identities now,” Hanamiya announced over the cacophony of enraged players. “From now on, Aincrad is your home, your reality, your prison. And it will stay that way until you reach the hundredth floor and defeat the final boss of Aincrad. Don’t wait for the outside world to help you—trust me, they can’t.” With that, Hanamiya Makoto mockingly wished them good luck and vanished in a whirlpool of blood-red ooze.

For a moment, no one made a sound. The sounds of peddling NPCs and monster spawns outside the arena hung over the shocked gathering of players.

“WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!”

“U—UWAAAH! SOMEONE HELP!”

“MOMMY!”

“Oha-Asa predicted bad luck for all signs today,” Midorima said furiously.

“Does this mean I can’t eat real snacks anymore?” Murasakibara pouted. Aomine rounded on him.

“Are you seriously worried about that?”

“Akashicchi…” Kise looked desperately at the one person who could possibly have any idea what to do in this situation. Akash hardened his eyes.

“All of you, gather around.” Akashi’s Captain Voice broke through the panicked noise around them. All six basketball members gathered obediently around their leader. “We need to get out of here now. The other betas will be on the move; they will undoubtedly go for the best levelling spots.”

“Wait,” Midorima said, looking at Akashi incredulously, “are you saying we should actually risk our lives on the field? Did you not remember how many times we died in the beta?”

“What choice do we have?” Akashi snapped, glaring at the green-haired boy. “ _Someone_ has to fight. Hanamiya is a genius, Shintarou. This… this _death game_ of his, do you really think someone like him would launch a catastrophe of this magnitude without covering all his bases? No,” he said, looking at each of his basketball teammates in the eye, “the people on the outside may be working to get us out, but right now we are on our own, and the people outside can only do so much to keep our bodies alive. Remember, while we are trapped here, we cannot move nor nourish our bodies. We must assume that we have a time limit.”

“You mean,” Kise swallowed, “the people outside might give up on us and just let us die? The government won’t let them do that, our families won’t let them…”

“Life support is very expensive,” Kuroko murmured. “At least two hundred thousand yen a day, if I remember correctly. And there are over nine thousand of us here.”

Aomine blinked in shock. “That’s a lot of money.” Akashi nodded.

“Exactly. While I have no doubt my father can afford to keep me alive, I am not so certain about the rest of the nine thousand here who do not have the means to pay for life support and will have to rely on the government.”

Momoi rubbed her forehead. “Okay, we need to take matters into our own hands and try to get out of here ourselves in case they decide our lives aren’t worth the money. And that means fighting and clearing the floors.”

“Which brings me back to my point,” Akashi continued. “We need to level up as quickly as possible and look for the boss dungeon, which, in all likelihood, will not be in the same place as in the beta. The nearest town is about a twenty minute straight run west. On the way, we’ll try to gather as much experience points as possible—yes, even you Atsushi. After that…” he shook his head. “We’ll figure out what to do later.”

“Uh, Akashi,” Aomine raised his hand. “Party limit’s at six.”

“Split into two groups,” Akashi ordered. “Daiki, Satsuki, Tetusya, Ryouta, you’re in one group. Atsushi, Shintarou, you’re with me. Stick together and _don’t lose sight of each other_. Be aware of your HP; if it drops into the red, or even yellow, fall back immediately and use a healing crystal. If we get separated, we’ll meet at the Rosebloom Inn. Do you remember where that is?”

“Yes,” they chorused.

“Good. Let’s go.”

And that was the beginning of what would be the most powerful guild in all of Aincrad.


	2. The Case of the Disappearing Players

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aomine has a grand time with monstrous vegetation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little world-building intro into present-day Aincrad ;) It's pretty straightforward and (relatively) uneventful. I would like to remind everyone that this story is non-linear, which means the chapters will be posted out of order. Also, I suck at fight scenes and mysteries, so...

**Floor 57 – Marten**  
**Front Lines – Floor 69**  
**24 August 2037**

The Pink Panther was one of the most popular player-run bars in Aincrad. Owned and run by the beautiful Momoi Satsuki (a rare find in male-dominated SAO), it was always packed to the brim by curious newcomers, love-struck players and exhausted Clearers looking to take a break from fighting. It not only served high-quality food and drinks (thanks to Momoi’s maxed out «Cooking» skill—thank god she didn’t actually need to have legitimate cooking skills to cook), it also doubled as an inn and trading hub where players could buy, trade, and sell goods and information from other players and the owner herself. It was an established neutral territory; fighting, duelling and harassment were not allowed. Of course, no one dared break this rule. The patrons of the bar were terrified of both Momoi Satsuki (a Level 89 two-handed swordswoman) _and_ the famous guild she belonged to: Kiseki.

Kiseki, whose Guild HQ was situated on the third and fourth floors of The Pink Panther, was considered to be the most powerful guild in Aincrad. Although extremely small compared to your average-sized thirty-player-strong guild, it more than made up for it through the sheer power each member of the guild possessed. It was rumoured that each member of the guild had acquired one of the ten Unique Skills in SAO. Everyone knew about Aomine Daiki’s «Dual Blades» and Murasakibara Atsushi’s «Holy Mace», but the other members kept their Unique Skills under wraps, only ever showing it to a few outsiders. In addition to that, no one could agree on how many members it contained. Aside from Momoi, most people claimed Kiseki only had five other combat-active players, while others maintained it actually had six. Who this sixth person was, no one could (or was willing to) say, and so the mystery of the phantom sixth member remained unsolved to the general public.

* * *

It was two in the afternoon. The Aincrad lunch time rush was almost over, with a few Clearers straggling in for a late lunch. Momoi had just finished serving a flirtatious black-haired Clearer when a soft voice floated over from the door. “Good afternoon, Momoi-san.”

Momoi dropped her empty tray with a gasp. She spun around, pink eyes shining, and tackled the owner of the voice, a small light blue-haired boy with light blue eyes, to the floor. “Tetsu-kun!” The staff and patrons of her bar looked confused. Why was the beautiful owner of the bar lying on the ground and hugging thin air?

“I’m here too, you know,” Aomine Daiki grumbled, stepping into the bar after the light blue-haired boy, setting off a barrage of shocked gasps and awed whispers from the players in the bar. Clothed in shiny dark blue armour and protective fabric, he cut a striking figure even among the high-levelled Clearers in the bar with their respective high-levelled armours, especially with his infamous light and dark dual blades glinting on his back.

“It’s him—“

“The Blue Swordsman—“

“The Ace—“

“—of Kiseki?”

“You dropped your tray,” Aomine continued, ignoring the attention. He pulled the girl off his best friend and helped the invisible boy up. Momoi huffed, dusted off her pink dress, and picked up the fallen tray.

“You didn’t greet me properly,” she said, pouting. Several patrons fell in love at the sight.

“Good afternoooooon, Satsuki,” he drawled sarcastically.

“That’s better.” Momoi nodded approvingly.

Kuroko Tetsuya, a naturally stealthy (sometimes _too_ stealthy) player dressed in pitch black lightweight armour and clothing, dragged Aomine over to one of the booths in the corner. “I believe we are here for business, Aomine-kun.”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s get on with it.” Aomine sat down beside Kuroko and stretched his arms. “Oi, Satsuki, isn’t she here yet? Oh, and get me a «Spicy Tonic» and a «White Boar Stew».”

“I’m not your servant, Dai-chan!” Momoi fumed. She glared at the bored swordsman for a moment before sighing and sitting down on the opposite booth. She waved over one of the waiters. “Saito-kun, do you mind?”

A young, brunet teen with friendly brown eyes bound over to them with a smile. “Not at all, Momoi-san. What do you need?”

“A «Spicy Tonic» and a «White Boar Stew» for this guy here,” she rolled her eyes at Aomine, “«Honey Water» and «Blue Leaf Salad» for me, and…” She smiled at Kuroko. “What can we get for you, Tetsu-kun?”

“Hm?” Saito glanced to the side and jumped when he saw the blue-haired boy appear out of nowhere. “Wh—Wha..? Since when did he get here?”

“I was here from the start, Saito-san,” Kuroko said calmly. Somehow, his weak presence had carried over to the virtual world, which didn’t really make any sense but he wasn’t about to question it when it gave him so many advantages. “I’d like a «Vanilla Iced Drink» and a «Fluffy Bread Loaf», please.”

“Y—Yes sir,” the waiter said, scribbling down the orders, still clearly shaken by the invisible boy. “Would that be all?”

“We’re good here. Thanks, Saito-kun.”

“My pleasure, Momoi-san.” Saito bowed and went to get their orders.

“It’s a shame no one’s discovered vanilla milkshakes yet,” Kuroko lamented.

“I’m working on it,” Momoi promised sincerely. Then she turned solemn. “Riko-san’s going to be a bit late. Something came up that needed her attention.”

Aomine raised an eyebrow. “Does it have to do with that thing we’re gonna discuss?” Momoi shrugged. Aomine sighed loudly. “I don’t even know why I’m here. This is the kind of thing Midorima or Akashi should be looking at.”

“Let me do all the thinking, Aomine-kun,” said Kuroko seriously. “Just hit whatever I point to and we should be fine.” Aomine narrowed his eyes.

“There’s an insult in there, I know it.”

Momoi snorted. Before anyone else could insult Aomine’s intelligence (or lack thereof), the door to the bar opened to reveal a heavily armoured girl with short brown hair and intelligent brown eyes. She caught sight of Momoi and stomped over, clearly furious over something.

“Riko-san,” Kuroko greeted.

The brown-haired girl almost had a heart attack, her anger being replaced by shock. “Argh! Kuroko-kun! Stop doing that!”

The girl was Aida Riko, Guild Leader of the Order of Peacekeepers and a well-respected axe-wielder. The Order of Peacekeepers was the premier unofficial police force of the higher floors, with the Organization of Aincrad Citizens taking charge of the lower floors. Although the Order of Peacekeepers was powerful and highly capable in their own right, they preferred to use their skills to catch PKers and other criminals, only joining in on clearing dungeons every now and then. They were particularly determined to dismantle the infamous murder guild Hell’s Crusade.

“Momoi-san.” Riko turned to the pink-haired girl, calming down after her fright. “Thanks for doing this. We really need your help.”

“Not at all,” Momoi said. “We understand the situation is getting worse.”

“Tell me about it.” Riko sat down just as Saito returned with the orders. He set down the food and drinks before politely asking Riko is she wanted anything, who ordered «Glowing Fizzy Water» and a «Florean Cheesecake».

Aomine immediately attacked his stew. He pointed his spoon at Riko while chewing on a piece of meat. “Alright, what’s the deal?”

“Don’t be rude,” Momoi chided.

“Ah, it’s alright,” Riko said wearily. For the first time, Kuroko noticed the slight sag of her shoulders and faint creases on her brows. “It’s my fault for calling you here so suddenly. It’s just…” She rubbed her forehead. “You know those disappearing players?”

Kuroko and Aomine exchanged a look. Who didn’t know about it? _The Aincrad Times_ , the only player-run newspaper in SAO, had covered the story only a week ago. The front page article went on about the disappearance of several Clearers from the front lines. Not dead, they said, their names hadn’t been crossed out from the Monument of Life, they were just—gone. Not even their friends or guild members could find them. The author of the article speculated that the vanished players had been forced to unfriend their friends and leave their guilds, perhaps using the same method as sleep PKing. A few days later, the guild mates of one of the disappeared players received an anonymous message demanding an exorbitant amount of Col in exchange for the missing players.

“We’ve been investigating the case, but the thing is…” Riko hesitated, then said bluntly. “We have no idea where they are—the vanished players, I mean. I’ve spoken to every single information broker out there are none of them have a clue. And none of the guilds can afford to pay the ransom even if they pool together their money and sell every single possession they have. We need your help.”

Momoi thought for a moment. “We’d love to help, Riko-san, but I’m not sure how. I don’t have any information about this; trust me, if I did, I would’ve given them. Tetsu-kun?”

Kuroko was silent. Then, “May I speak with the recipients of the anonymous message?”

* * *

**Floor 51 – Krausmier**  
**Front Lines - Floor 69  
24 August 2037 **

Aomine, Kuroko, and Riko entered the Guild HQ of Monster Busters, a well-known middle-sized Clearing guild. Riko had contacted Imai Norio, the Guild Leader of Monster Busters, in advance, who agreed to speak to Kuroko about the messages. Imai, a sturdily built man in his late twenties, was waiting for them inside.

“Riko-san,” Imai greeted her, his face laden with worry and exhaustion. Then he caught sight of Aomine and became confused. Obviously he recognized the Dual Wielder. “Err, you said I was going to speak with a Kuroko-san?”

“It’s this guy over here.” Aomine pointed at Kuroko by his side, who waved nonchalantly, unfazed by Imai’s yelp of surprise.

“Holy mother of—Ah, I didn’t see you there.” Imai laughed nervously. “Please, come in.” He ushered them into the building. As far as Guild HQs went it was decently sized, the living room dominating the entire first floor with a small kitchen and dining room to the left. There was a winding wooden staircase on the far end of the room, clearly leading to the sleeping quarters of the guild. Imai sat them down on the couches.

“Kuroko-san, was it?” Imai looked like he had a hard time keeping his eyes on the naturally invisible boy. “You wanted to look at the message?”

“If it’s not too much trouble.”

“Not at all.” Imai’s hand swiped down, opening his personal menu, and materialized the message in his left hand. “Here. This was left on our doorstep a few days after the disappearances. We don’t know who did it, and no one saw anything.”

Kuroko took the sheet of paper and stared at it. Tilting his head, he activated his «Appraisal» skill and read the scrolling data intently. “Ah. I think I may know where your missing guild mate is.”

Riko bolted upright. So did Imai. Aomine raised his eyebrows and muttered, “Of course.”

“You—You do?” Imai stammered.

Kuroko nodded. “This message is written on «Tough White Papyrus» from the «Lord Chomping Reed» spawn, which can only be found in one of the secret dungeons on Floor 43. I went in there once with Kise-kun. He fell into a no-crystal zone, and if I remember correctly, he also disappeared from my status bar during the short amount of time I wasn’t in there with him. I’m not quite certain, but it is possible that that no-crystal zone also doubled as some sort of no-detection zone, where a player’s status disappears entirely from anyone who isn’t inside the zone with him.”

Riko and Imai digested this. Then Riko exploded. “And you’re just telling this now?”

Kuroko shrugged. “This is only a theory based on a very limited observation that I may or may not have remembered correctly. It hadn’t occurred to me until now. As I said, I was only away from Kise-kun for a short amount of time before joining him in the zone, and I was too busy fending off a horde of «Great Chomping Reeds» to pay much attention to anything else.”

Imai stood up. “I don’t care. If there’s even a small chance of Sugiwara being there…”

“I must warn you though,” Kuroko said nonchalantly, “the monster spawns in that dungeon are very high-levelled. Kise-kun and I barely got out of there alive. It spawned monsters Level 75 and up,” he added, seeing Imai’s undaunted look. At the mention of “Level 75,” Imai faltered and sat down.

“… I’m only Level 68.” It was one of those unspoken rules in Aincrad: never take on a monster without being at least five levels higher than the monster spawn, and preferably with a trusted ally or guild mate. With your life on the line, you could never be too careful.

“I guess that’s why I’m here,” Aomine grumbled. He cracked his knuckles. “Ah well, it’s been a while since I’ve gone dungeon crawling.”

“It’s been nineteen hours,” Kuroko deadpanned.

“Details.”

“Are you strong enough?” Imai asked.

Aomine scoffed. “Please. Have a little faith. Let’s go, Tetsu.” With that, the Level 98 Dual Wielder and the Level 96 Phantom Player exited the Guild HQ.

* * *

**Floor 43 Dungeon – Reed Labyrinth**  
**Front Lines - Floor 69**  
**24 August 2037**

Aomine slashed at another «Chomping Reed» and bombarded a sneaky «Lord Chomping Reed» with «Shine Circular». “Man, these things just keep on coming!”

“We are in a dungeon called the Reed Labyrinth,” Kuroko intoned, lunging at a «Chomping Reed» looming over Aomine. His dagger glowed as he struck at the monster’s weak point, killing it instantly. “It is expected that we are attacked by many «Chomping Reeds».”

“Reeds, reeds, can’t we get some variety here?” Aomine complained. “All we’ve fought so far are «Chomping Reeds», «Great Chomping Reeds», and «Lord Chomping Reeds». I mean, seriously! I thought Hanamiya was more creative than that!”

“There are also «King Chomping Reeds» further in the dungeon,” Kuroko said helpfully, taking out another enemy. “And the boss of the dungeon is called the «Heavenly Chomping Goddess Reed».”

“Goddammit!” Kuroko chuckled to himself while finishing off the last of the «Chomping Reeds».

“We won’t need to go that far, don’t worry. The no-detection zone should be near here.”

“Thank you,” Aomine sighed, closing his eyes. “I never want to see another freakin’ reed again after this. Tetsu.”

“Yes, Aomine-kun.” Kuroko activated his «Invisibility» skill. Unlike the «Hiding» skill, the «Invisibility» skill was exclusive to the Unique Skill «Phantom Blade», and there was absolutely no chance of detection by either players or monsters regardless of how high their «Searching» skills were. Even party members, while able to see the status and designation on their maps, could not see the user’s avatar itself.

“Man, I still can’t get used to that,” Aomine grumbled. “And I thought maxing out my «Searching» skill would make you easier to see.” He brought up the map on his screen. “Uhh, so next corridor to the right, straight, pass three corridors, then turn left, and the no-detection zone is behind a trap wall about fifteen paces down. Okay. I’ll meet you there, Tetsu.”

The Dual Wielder ambled along the Reed Labyrinth, taking out every monster he came across with almost absurd ease. He kept a careful eye on Kuroko’s status and blinking dot on the map. While he knew the invisible boy could take care of himself, he still couldn’t help but worry whenever he used his «Invisibility» skill. Kuroko didn’t just have a low presence then—he was outright _invisible_. It was unnerving not being able to see his best friend. What if something happened while he was fighting and he didn’t even see it?

He smacked himself. “Focus, Aomine Daiki. Look, more «Chomping Reeds». Don’t you just _love_ «Chomping Reeds»?” Actually, he hated «Chomping Reeds», with their beady black eyes, rustling leaf limbs, crackly green skin, and overall reedy appearance… Reedy, haha, that pun idiot from the Order of Peacekeepers would love that…

Eventually the two players, one still invisible, stumbled onto the trap wall. Literally, in Aomine’s case, as he was about to walk past it before Kuroko decided to take initiative and push the ganguro through the wall.

“I swear when I get out of here…” Aomine grumbled.

“Who the hell are you!” a scratchy voice snarled. Straightening, Aomine took in the scene inside the trap room. In front of him was a cloaked man with hints of a beard peeking out from his large hood. Behind the cloaked man was a group of silenced and paralyzed players, tied up and terrified out of their wits. Most of them recognized Aomine and struggled against their bonds, hope flaring in their eyes.

“I have your payment here,” Aomine drawled, ignoring the other players. “From that ransom message you sent. Just open up a transaction window already.”

“You’re not Imai,” the red player growled. Aomine shrugged.

“Imai wasn’t strong enough to get through the Labyrinth, so he hired me to be the middle man.”

The red player narrowed his eyes. “You look familiar…”

“I’m a freelance mercenary,” he replied quickly. Damn _The Aincrad Times: Tabloid Edition_ and their need to stick their noses into the closest thing Aincrad had to celebrities. “Gotta warn you though, my charging rates are pretty high.” The red player grunted and finally opened up a transaction window.

“Four hundred million Col,” he said impatiently. “Get on with—grrk.” The red player stiffened and fell to the ground, yellow electricity crackling on his skin. Aomine guffawed.

“The look on his face—ahh, that never gets old.”

“I’m glad you find it amusing.” Kuroko deactivated his «Invisibility» skill and appeared behind the panicking paralyzed red player, his dagger still glowing slightly from the activation of «Paralysis Blade». Going through his inventory, he stepped out of the no-crystal zone, took out a «Corridor Crystal», and opened a teleport gate leading straight to the Black Iron Palace. Aomine picked up the red player by his scruff and threw him through the gate. They had already sent word to the jailers, who were more than happy to incarcerate the man for his crimes. Aomine wiped his hands on his pants.

“Job well done, right? We can go home now?”

Kuroko cut through the captives’ ropes, dragged them outside the no-crystal zone, and gave them «Antidote Crystals». “Are you all okay?”

The shaken players nodded profusely, breathing heavily.

“Yes…”

“Thank you, thank you so much!”

“Thank god you came, he was going to kill us!”

“It’s fine,” Aomine said boredly. “Let’s just get outta here. I’m sick of looking at reeds, and I’m sure you are too.”

* * *

**Floor 57 – Marten**  
**Front Lines - Floor 69**  
**24 August 2037**

After a long day rescuing captive players, Aomine and Kuroko returned home; home being the third and fourth floor of The Pink Panther.

“We’re back!” Aomine called out, crashing onto a large red couch. The third floor of The Pink Panther was basically a spacious living room with a medium-sized dining room and a private kitchen to the side. Couches, armchairs, beanbags, and piles upon piles of cushions littered the floor, thanks to Kuroko’s, Kise’s, and Momoi’s fondness for soft things. In the middle of the cushiony mess was a coffee table with a «Mirage Sphere» as its centrepiece. Under the window overlooking the busy streets of Marten was a large dog bed where Tetsuya Nigou, Kuroko’s tamed «Savage Wolf Pup» and the guild mascot, snoozed peacefully under the moonlight. This mess of cushions, items and wolf fur was what the guild was greeted with after a long day of grinding and mapping out dungeons.

Akashi Seijuurou, the Guild Leader of Kiseki, had been browsing through his inbox on one of the armchairs when the two best friends returned. It really was late into the night; Momoi had long since closed the bar. Everyone else was sleeping soundly in their rooms up on the fourth floor. The redhead nodded at the two before closing his inbox. “Welcome back. I take it the rescue went well?”

Aomine yawned and scratched his stomach. “Yeah, it was a letdown; didn’t even have to fight the red player.”

“I’m sorry for being too good,” Kuroko deadpanned, sitting down beside Aomine.

“Did you notice anything else?” Akashi questioned. Aomine shrugged.

“I dunno, were we supposed to be looking for something?” Akashi paused, then shook his head.

“It’s nothing. Go to sleep, you two. We need to finish mapping out that dungeon tomorrow.”

“Oh, finally!” Without waiting for his friend Aomine waved goodnight and trudged up the stairs, his shoulders slumping as if he was already asleep. Technically players didn’t need to sleep, but if a player didn’t sleep for certain amount of time they would be inflicted with the tired debuff until they either used a cure or slept for a solid six hours.

“You should go as well, Tetsuya,” Akashi murmured, eyes lingering at the blue-haired player’s slight form. Then his lips twitched. “Or are you waiting for me to join you in bed?”

Kuroko narrowed his eyes even as his cheeks flushed a very faint but unmistakable shade of red. “Akashi-kun should not be so teasing this late at night.”

“Ah, but isn’t the night the perfect time to take part in such activities?” Kuroko’s flush deepened. He was used to things like that coming from Aomine, but Akashi was another matter entirely.

Thankfully, Akashi didn’t pursue the matter further. “You go on ahead. I shall be up in a moment.”

Still flustered, Kuroko bid Akashi goodnight and fled upstairs. Alone in the living room, Akashi reopened his inbox. His fingers hovered over the topmost message, sent merely five minutes ago.

> `**From:** Nijimura Shuuzou  
>  **To:** Akashi Seijuurou  
>  **Subject:** Hell’s Crusade`

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Skills**  
>  **• «Dual Blades»** \- one of the ten Unique Skills in Sword Art Online. «Dual Blades» is given to the player with the fastest reaction time. It gives the player the ability to wield two swords, along with special sword skills unique to dual wielding.  
>  **• «Shine Circular»** \- a 15-hit combo sword skill unique to «Dual Blades».  
>  **• «Phantom Blade»** \- one of the ten Unique Skills in Sword Art Online. «Phantom Blade» is given to the player with the lowest natural presence. It gives the player a variety of unique skills focused on stealth and one-hit attacks.  
>  **• «Invisibility»** \- a skill unique to «Phantom Blade» that grants the user total invisibility to monsters and players for a set amount of time. It is different from the «Hiding» skill in that there is absolutely no chance of players and monsters detecting the user while the «Invisibility» is activated, regardless of how high their «Searching» skill is. A maxed out «Invisibility» skill can last indefinitely, or until the user deactivates the skill. Note: speaking while the «Invisibility» skill is activated can give the user away, so it is best to keep quiet.  
>  **• «Paralysis Blade»** \- a one-hit sword skill unique to «Phantom Blade» that inflicts the «paralysis» debuff when hitting the target’s weak point.  
>  ( **note:** a lot of the sword skills I’m referencing—particularly for «Dual Blades»—is taken from SAO: HF. If you don’t recognise a skill as coming from either the light novel, anime, or Hollow Fragment (ex. Kuroko’s Unique Skill «Phantom Blade»), then it’s probably something I came up with)  
>   
>  **Terminology**  
>  **• Clearer** – players who fight in the front lines, risking their lives to scout out dungeons and fight floor bosses in order to beat the game  
>  **• Front Lines** – the current highest unlocked floor in Aincrad. Clearers are usually busy in the front lines mapping out dungeons and scouting out bosses.  
>  **• Monument of Life** – a big slab of stone on the first floor that depicts the name of every single player trapped in Aincrad. When a player dies, their name is crossed out and the time and cause of death is automatically carved beside their name.  
>  **• PK** – player killing (PKer – player killer); considered a grave crime because, well, it’s killing—for real  
>  **• Sleep PKing** – a method of PKing that involves manipulating a sleeping player’s hand to accept a duel and then killing them while they are asleep. (Note: a sleeping player cannot be awakened no matter what until their set alarm goes off. This is why it is inadvisable to sleep outside, even inside towns and safe zones, without a trusted ally to watch you while you sleep.)  
>  **• Sword skill** – special system-assisted skills that deal massive amounts of damage compared to regular attacks  
>  Exchange rate is 1 Col = 1 JPY.  
> PS. Yeah, Mukkun’s Holy Mace = Heathcliff’s Holy Sword, but more on that later :P


	3. How to Tame Your Savage Wolf Pup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiseki gets a new mascot. Also, Floor 28 is Kagami's worst nightmare.

**Floor 28 – Wolf Plains**  
**Front Lines – Floor 28**  
 **15 September 2036**

Floor 28: every dog lovers’ dream and every cynophobic’s (Kagami’s) nightmare. A canine-themed floor, the NPCs of the main city, Canis, were predominantly human-canine hybrids. Very friendly and eager to help, they were by a long shot one of the most popular NPCs in Aincrad discovered so far. The sight of a pleased Canis citizen after a successful quest—with their sunny grins and happily twitching canine ears and wagging tail—was very, very rewarding.

Kuroko was currently trekking through the Wolf Plains, a humongous monster field bordering the edges of Aincrad, looking for the entrance to the Floor 28 Boss Dungeon. According to Momoi’s sources, the entrance had to be somewhere in the eastern portion of the field. But the field was so large, he, Aomine, and Kise had to split up if they wanted to have a good chance of going back to Canis before sundown. Midorima and Murasakibara were off on Floor 20 dealing with reports of a group of orange players, and Akashi and Momoi had business to take care of with some other guilds, so none of the other four were able to join them.

“Where are you, Dungeon-san?” Kuroko muttered to himself, neatly stepping over a decorative skeleton (at least, he hoped it was decorative; as far as he knew players didn’t leave behind skeletons when they died but he wouldn’t put it past Hanamiya…). He looked up at the blue, blue sky, clear of any clouds and the sun shining brightly down on the field at just the right intensity. A slight breeze ruffled his hair. It was perfect weather for taking a nap outside. In fact, he was tempted to just lay down and stare at the sky, but no, he couldn’t get distracted, he had to look for that dungeon—

“Grrr…!”

Adrenaline spiking, Kuroko whipped out his dagger and stabbed the «Savage Wolf» that tried to pounce him from behind. His dagger hit a soft, slobbery muzzle, and he took the moment to fling the wolf away. He quickly jumped back, scanning his surroundings while composing himself. In the short amount of time he had been lost in his head, he had somehow been surrounded by a pack of «Savage Wolves», led by a humongous, taller-than-Murasakibara «Alpha Wolf». The «Alpha Wolf», bright red with streaks of black, different from the smoky grey fur of the «Savage Wolves», growled at Kuroko, fangs bared, claws digging into the grass.

Kuroko looked at his own tiny dagger, only almost half the size of one of the «Alpha Wolf»’s claws, if that, and resigned himself to a long, drawn out fight.

The wolves pounced.

Kuroko put on a burst of speed and dodged all of the wolves at the last minute, sending all the wolves crashing into each other. He killed two wolves with several quick strikes to their weak points while they oriented themselves, and killed another two while they tried to lock onto his elusive figure. Three more wolves plus the alpha to go… The «Savage Wolves» weren’t the strongest monsters in the floor, but they tended to travel in packs, and when lead by the «Alpha Wolf», a rare «Named Monster», their coordination and tactics were almost at the level of human intelligence, once they got their bearings. In any other situation, he would have marvelled at the wolves’ incredible AI, but—

Two «Savage Wolves» lunged at Kuroko, who dodged but ended up tripping over the last «Savage Wolf» and falling on his butt. The «Alpha Wolf» seized the chance and jumped on Kuroko, pinning him to the ground. It snarled at him, dark red eyes brimming with bloodlust, and bared its yellow fangs at Kuroko’s throat, going in for the kill—

And yelped when a «Silver Needle» suddenly struck its eye. Kuroko’s hand, glowing bright blue from the usage of his «Throwing» skill, equipped another «Silver Needle» and threw it in the same eye with a quick flick of his wrist. The «Alpha Wolf» yelped again and leapt back, pawing at its eye. Kuroko stood and ran past the «Alpha Wolf», straight to the three remaining «Savage Wolves». He struck at the first «Savage Wolf»’s weak point—its throat—with «Fad Edge», inflicting it with the bleeding status, quickly stepping back when it snapped at his arm—only to be jumped on by another wolf. He staggered under its weight and felt a sting on his shoulder as the monster tore at his virtual skin. Grunting, he cut off the wolf’s head, sending its HP gauge straight to zero. Kuroko kicked the third wolf aside and finished off the first wolf with «Round Accel», damaging the other «Savage Wolf» as well. The two monsters, having less than half health, backed away to regroup, studying their unexpectedly vicious prey with wary eyes. Wait, where was the alpha—?

Kuroko heard the soft, padding footsteps behind him just in time to throw himself to the ground, the «Alpha Wolf» sailing over his head as it narrowly missed Kuroko’s head. The two remaining wolves took the chance to pounce on Kuroko, who rolled away and activated «Round Accel» again, damaging all three wolves at once. He finished off the last two «Savage Wolves» with the «Armour Pierce» sword skill, and turned to face the «Alpha Wolf».

“Grrrrrrr…” The «Alpha Wolf» and Kuroko circled each other, neither willing to initiate an attack. Kuroko noted the monster’s health, which was in the yellow, and his own, which was on the verge of entering the yellow.

The « Alpha Wolf» attacked Kuroko, landing a critical hit on his side and dropping his HP down to double digits. Kuroko winced slightly and hit the monster with «Shadow Stitch», inflicting it with paralysis. He took the time to quickly down a «Healing Potion» and resumed his assault on the «Alpha Wolf».

The «Alpha Wolf» howled as Kuroko danced around it, striking at each of its weak points, slowly but surely chipping at its health little by little. Kuroko managed to get its health all the way down to the red when the paralysis finally wore off and the «Alpha Wolf» lunged at Kuroko, claws out, ready to maul.

Kuroko rolled to the side and struck at the wolf’s hind leg. The alpha stumbled, and Kuroko jumped on its back and stabbed his dagger at its neck, finishing off the last of its health.

The «Alpha Wolf» howled one last time before shattering into pieces. Kuroko fell face first to the ground none too gracefully.

Kuroko sighed and just laid there for a moment, catching his breath. He hadn’t had a fight that intense in a while. Usually he had others with him, who were the ones to fight monsters up front while he supported from the shadows, inflicting debuffs and critical hits by targeting the enemies’ weak points when they were distracted. His build just wasn’t meant for open combat.

A bleep forced him to look up, and the obligatory CONGRATULATIONS banner appeared in front of him, along with a list of spoils from the slain monsters. One item in particular caught his eye: a Level 52 Class S «Alpha Claw +10» dagger.

The «Alpha Wolf» was a rare «Named Monster», so it was expected that its item drop would be an exceptionally powerful weapon. Indeed, it was certainly a step up compared to his current dagger, a «Blood Edge +38» from a mini-boss on Floor 24. The dagger had been growing more and more obsolete the farther up Aincrad they went despite upgrading it every so often. He hadn’t been able to find a more powerful dagger until now. He stood up, dusting off his clothes, and opened his inventory, clicking on his newly acquired weapon. Scrolling down its stats and requirements, he saw that he only needed to level up his agility and dexterity to a certain point to be able to wield the weapon.

So busy was he sorting through the loot that he didn’t notice the small creature padding up behind him.

“Arf!”

Kuroko whirled around, dagger raised, eyes widening at the monster that appeared behind him. He didn’t even notice it! (Was that how other people felt around him all the time?)

The monster, a small black-and-white «Savage Wolf Pup», wagged its tail and barked again. It didn’t seem hostile, so Kuroko approached the «Savage Wolf Pup» cautiously, an idea sparking in his mind. Maybe it was time to test out that rumour from the beta. “Hello.”

It tilted its head curiously.

Kuroko opened his menu and took out a «Vanilla Bone», holding it out to the monster. The «Savage Wolf Pup» yipped in excitement and took the bone, settling down on the ground to gnaw on the treat with happily shining eyes. The colour of its cursor changed from red to a shining vivid green, signifying it transition from enemy monster to ally.

“So it’s true…” Kuroko picked up the new «Tamed Beast» and stroked its fur gently, silently marvelling at the warmth and softness of the little pup. Hanamiya Makoto may be an insane, sadistic genius, but he sure knew what he was doing.

“Kurokocchi!” Kuroko turned around—only to be engulfed by the overwhelming force of the fashion industry known as Kise Ryouta. The bubbly-model-turned-virtual-warrior (and wasn’t _that_ a terrifying thought?) hugged Kuroko with an intensity that could rival—well, actually, it couldn’t rival anything, it was that intense. “Kurokocchi! I saw your HP going down and then—and then it was in the red and you were gonna die and—and I was so worried!” he wailed.

“Kise-kun, please let go of me,” Kuroko said monotonously. He had long since gotten used to this. Especially ever since they got trapped in SAO, the constant dangers and threat of imminent death forced Kise to become even more affectionate than ever—almost obsessively affectionate, even—in case one of them died without knowing _just how much Kise loved them_ (which, from the looks of it, was far more love than any of them would ever reciprocate in their lifetime).  

Honestly, he was like a puppy. A big, loud, golden retriever puppy. Speaking of which…

“Ehh? Kurokocchi, why are you carrying a «Savage Wolf Pup»?” Kise asked, reluctantly letting go of Kuroko and examining the admittedly cute monster in his arms. “And why isn’t it attacking you?”

“I tamed it.” Kise gasped, starstruck.

“Whaaa, that’s so cool! So that rumour about beast taming is true after all! But of course Kurokocchi would be able to tame monsters!” Kise then proceeded to coo over the little pup. “Aww, his eyes look kind of like yours.”

Kuroko examined the eyes. Big, round, blank, and blue. “Hmm, you’re right.”

“You should name him Tetsuya Nigou!” Kise said enthusiastically. “Nigou for short! He can be our mascot too!”

The «Savage Wolf Pup» barked and wagged its tail.

“See? He agrees with me!”

Kuroko sighed, a faint smile twitching at his lips. He swiped his hand down, opening a new window, and clicked on the new option that said «Name Tamed Beast», quickly typing in Nigou’s new name. “Okay. Welcome to Kiseki, Nigou.”

* * *

 **Floor 28 – Canis**  
**Front Lines – Floor 28**  
 **15 September 2036**

Kagami Taiga, a fearsome swordsman and renowned Clearer of the Freedom Fighters guild, trembled at the sight of Nigou. “W-W-Why is there a monster inside the town?”

“Nigou is a «Tamed Beast», Kagami-kun,” Kuroko said calmly. He held the adorable, friendly, utterly non-threatening «Savage Wolf Pup» out to the redhead. “Kagami-kun, meet Tetsuya Nigou. Nigou, this is Kagami-kun.”

Nigou barked.

Kagami screamed and fainted.

Kuroko blinked. “Oh. He fell down. Why do you think that happened, Aomine-kun?”

Aomine was too busy laughing his ass off to reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Skills**  
>  **• «Armour Pierce»** \- dagger sword skill; a one-hit combo that may inflict defence down on the target.  
>  **• «Fad Edge»** \- dagger sword skill; a four-hit combo that may inflict the bleeding status on the target.  
>  **• «Round Accel»** \- dagger sword skill; a two-hit AoE combo.  
>  **• «Shadow Stitch»** \- dagger sword skill; a three-hit combo that may inflict paralysis on the target.
> 
>  **Terminology**  
>  **• AoE (Area of Effect)** – sword skills that do peripheral damage to other nearby monsters; works best when you’re surrounded by enemies.  
>  **• «Named Monster»** \- a special type of monster. Stronger than the average monster, but weaker than mini-bosses.   
> **• Orange Player** – player whose cursor is orange instead of green, signifying that the player has committed a crime; they are banned from entering towns until their cursors turn back to green over time.  
>  **• Red Player** – slang term for orange players who have murdered other players; their cursors are actually still orange, it’s just that murder is such an unforgivable crime that murderers needed to be separated from other types of criminals.  
>  **• «Tamed Beast»** \- a monster who has been tamed by a player; extremely rare, extremely hard to acquire, as there are extremely specific criteria to taming different monsters, the common one being that a player must not have slain a single monster of the type they are trying to tame. (Note: a «Savage Wolf» is not the same as a «Savage Wolf Pup».)
> 
> I’m pretty sure in the game Named Monsters are supposed to be mini-bosses themselves, but I decided to make them a different class of monster instead. So here, Named Monster ≠ mini-boss.
> 
> Also, “Level 52 Class S «Alpha Claw +10»” and any other weapons-related info henceforth = complete bullshit.


End file.
